WNBA Expansion Slowly Easing Roster Squeeze

In the WNBA, it happens every year.

About a week after the women’s NCAA tournament crowns a champion, a few dozen fresh-eyed hoopers are drafted into the WNBA. They ship out to their new cities and try their best at training camp, but by the time official rosters are released in May, roughly half of those selected on draft night—if that—make the cut.

The WNBA has a space problem, and it knows it. Just 13 players drafted in 2024 made an opening day roster, only 15 players did in 2023, and 17 players did in 2022. With only 12 teams at 12 players apiece—though often teams only sign 11 players with the hard salary cap—many athletes good enough to play in the WNBA don’t end up on a roster. With no G League equivalent, many of these players end up overseas.

“Don’t stop supporting them—even if [they get cut,] does not mean they’re bad, that’s just how the league is,” Golden State signee Laeticia Amihere said in a TikTok last April.

Monday night’s crew at the 2025 WNBA Draft should have a slightly easier time making a roster because the Golden State Valkyries are entering the picture. The new expansion team will instantly increase the league’s number of roster spots from 144 to 156. And, because the team didn’t poach any superstars during free agency, Golden State might be more interested in signing rookies than other teams.

Because the Aces lost their 2025 first-round pick as league punishment for their treatment of Dearica Hamby, the first round will have 12 picks, and the next two rounds will have 13.

While the Valkyries offer some improvement to the talent bottleneck, the real relief will come next year. The Toronto Tempo and a still unnamed Portland team enter the league in 2026, increasing the number of roster spots from 156 to 180. That number could be even higher if the current negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement result in larger rosters. (The NBA, for example, allows 15 players per roster with three more on a two-way contract during the regular season.) Along with the likely increase to rookie contracts under a new CBA, more opportunities to make a roster is yet another incentive for college players like Azzi Fudd and Flau’jae Johnson to wait another year before entering the draft.

Certain draftees like Paige Bueckers from UConn, Kiki Iriafen from USC, and Dominique Malonga from France are expected to make a roster. And in addition to the Valkyries, the Connecticut Sun are looking for some extra talent after a rocky offseason. But for many whose names are called Monday night in Manhattan, the WNBA talent dilemma will still be at play.